Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference 2016

AUTHORS: Shelby Hiestand*, Michigan Department of Natural Resources; Jennifer Kleitch, Michigan DNR; Jeremy Banfield, Pennsylvania Game and Fish; Will Bowling, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources; Kevin Wallenfang, Wisconsin DNR

ABSTRACT: Elk Cervus canadensis were extirpated from the eastern United States by the late 1800s due primarily to habitat degradation and unregulated hunting. Early attempts to bring elk back to eastern states occurred with varying success as early as the 1910s. Some of these small populations were able to establish and still exist today. Many factors limited success of reintroductions including disease, unsustainable harvest levels, removal of crop-depredating elk, and isolation of small, unsustainable herds. Elk populations currently exist in MI, KY, PA, WI, MN, AR, TN, NC, MO, WV, and VA. Reintroduction efforts continue to this day most recently in expanding Wisconsin and Minnesota elk range. Current herds in the eastern US vary widely in population, management strategies and techniques. Each area that reestablishes elk on the landscape faces similar challenges including gaining local public support, funding, and outlining future goals and management strategies. As each herd is regionally unique, managers face diverse challenges depending on habitat type, weather conditions, disease concerns, predators, and potential to become a nuisance animal. Establishment of hunting seasons is a common strategy for managing established populations. Seasons, quotas, and designation of hunting areas add another layer of control as well as challenges for managers. Beyond hunting, elk have also become a popular species for wildlife viewing and established viewing areas or parks bring tourism to these regions. Current tasks for many managers include habitat management, population monitoring, and communicating with the public. Communication among elk managers of these isolated populations is important in improving and expanding local management resources.

AUTHORS: Julia C. Brockman*, Southern Illinois University; Clayton K. Nielsen, Southern Illinois University; Jeffery W. Walk, The Nature Conservancy

ABSTRACT: American bison Bison bison have historically played an integral role in shaping prairie ecosystems. In one of the first reintroductions of a semi-wild population of bison east of the Mississippi River, The Nature Conservancy reintroduced bison to the Nachusa Grasslands in northern Illinois in November 2014. Given the novelty of such efforts, questions remain regarding how human disturbances and prairie management affect bison habitat selection. Our study will address these literature gaps while investigating seasonal and annual changes in habitat selection. During the first year of study (October 2014-September 2015), we collected hourly location data from Lotek Iridium TrackM 3D and 4D collars placed on 7 bison prior to reintroduction. We overlayed these data on a map of land cover types within the bison enclosure. Using a Chi-square test with a 95% confidence interval, we compared observed bison use of cover types to expected use. Our initial findings indicate significant preferential selection for remnant prairie and unrestored grassland relative to restored prairie and oak savanna. Future analysis will include the development of a resource selection function to more thoroughly investigate other environmental and management-related variables that may influence habitat selection, including burn regime, planting restoration date, slope, aspect, and distance from anthropogenic structures. With a better understanding of how bison grazing is influenced by restoration management and human disturbance, wildlife managers can make better-informed decisions regarding bison restoration and public use.

AUTHORS: Sarah Plantrich*, Michigan State University Department of Fisheries and Wildlife; Jordan Burroughs, Michigan State University Department of Fisheries and Wildlife; Henry Campa III, Michigan State University Department of Fisheries and Wildlife; Catherine DeShambo, City of East Lansing; Tim Wilson, USDA Wildlife Services

ABSTRACT: Many suburban areas within Michigan and across the country experience deer-human conflicts, and East Lansing, Michigan is no exception. As a city’s population increases, expanding development often encroaches on wildlife habitat. White-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus populations in these areas, therefore, become part of the suburban landscapes thereby increasing the potential for conflicts between deer and residents. Managing deer in suburban landscapes is often more challenging than managing deer in rural landscapes due to the diversity of stakeholders and their values, diversity of cover types available to deer, and options to lower deer numbers. In 2011, City of East Lansing officials began taking proactive steps to address their deer issues by surveying residents’ perceptions and attitudes regarding deer management, passing ordinances to ban deer feeding, collecting data on local deer-vehicle accidents, mapping areas with high deer conflict, and ongoing dialog and education efforts. A 2011 online survey of 200 residents revealed that 60% of respondents were concerned about deer numbers. Deer-vehicle collisions, damage to landscaping and park ecosystems, and herd health were among top concerns. Half of the respondents indicated their landscaping had been damaged by deer. In 2015, East Lansing officials consulted with USDA Wildlife Services to determine a minimum deer population estimate. With an increasing amount of deer-human conflicts, officials decided to initiate a deer removal plan. Before an official plan could be finalized, 3 cases of chronic wasting disease were discovered in an adjacent area, resulting in the forced removal of over 500 deer. Further study will show how reducing deer numbers may affect human-deer conflicts. Conflict resolution and achieving the desired outcomes of residents and city officials are key factors in suburban deer management. We will provide an overview of the East Lansing deer management and stakeholder engagement efforts to date.

AUTHORS: Sonja A. Christensen*, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University; David M. Williams, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University; William F. Porter, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University; Brent Rudolph, Michigan Department of Natural Resources; Amy C. Dechen Quinn, State University of New York

ABSTRACT: Epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) is the most significant source of viral disease-related mortality in white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus in the United States. Michigan has seen an increase in EHD related deer mortality since 2006, and 2012 was the largest outbreak of EHD in Michigan history. This perturbation provided an opportunity to evaluate deer dynamics as affected by a major local mortality event at a spatial scale not typically addressed by management agencies. Our objectives were to 1) evaluate local population recovery after an EHD event and 2) compare local-population abundance of deer in an EHD-impacted area with deer abundance in an unaffected area using two survey methods. We used distance sampling techniques for ground-based and aerial surveys to estimate annual abundance of unmarked deer populations. Because proximity to wetlands may impact EHD occurrence, we surveyed transects at 2 distances along each side of a riparian corridor (~1km and 5km). We present differences in deer abundance for sites affected and unaffected by EHD as estimated by ground-based and aerial methods, which were targeted for cost efficiency and availability for state agencies. For each study area we provided abundance estimates in relation to distance from the riparian corridor. Abundance estimates in the affected area were lower along transects near the river, reflecting EHD mortality associated with wetlands, and the opposite was true in the unaffected site. Our research has important implications to management of deer because we address challenges posed by sudden and severe mortality events in ungulate populations at local scales.

AUTHORS: Rebecca L. Cain*, Michigan State University; David M. Williams, Michigan State University; William F. Porter, Michigan State University

ABSTRACT: When the number of records is mapped, it is easy to see that the harvest of trophy white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus varies spatially, thus some areas of the United States are more likely than others to produce trophy individuals. Due to the high energetic and nutritional requirements of antler growth, only healthy deer are able to produce antlers large enough to achieve trophy status. Therefore, areas that consistently report trophy harvests must denote the presence of favorable habitat, management, or other ecological conditions. Research on white-tailed deer has predominantly been conducted at small-spatial scales, thus the influence of environmental conditions across broad geographic regions is essentially unknown. Although there are many ideas about the factors driving the spatial heterogeneity in trophy whitetail harvests, no studies have been conducted at this landscape scale to test if these assumptions are accurate. Our objective was to evaluate the influence of various landscape characteristics on the number of trophy white-tailed deer harvested in the Midwestern region of the United States. We used the Boone and Crockett Club’s century-long database of trophy deer to examine the trends at a regional scale. We chose the Midwest for our study area because this region has consistently produced record-sized deer. Moreover, we used counties as the spatial unit for the reported harvest of trophy whitetails. We collected data on land cover, climate, and trophy deer harvests. We analyzed the impact of explanatory variables on the number of Boone and Crockett records for trophy white-tailed deer using a spatial-temporal model within a Bayesian framework for 858 counties (9 states). We quantify and discuss various landscape characteristics that influence trophy white-tailed deer harvest. Findings from this research provide new information relating broad-scale environmental features to population health.

AUTHORS: Amanda McGraw*, Integrated Biosciences Graduate Program, University of Minnesota Duluth; Lou Cornicelli, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; Ron Moen, Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth

ABSTRACT: Interactions between moose Alces alces and deer Odocoileus virginianus are of particular interest in Minnesota in light of moose population declines and because of the potential for deer to negatively affect moose populations through resource competition and disease transmission. Both species use young forest as primary foraging habitat, and management to create these habitats for moose is occurring in Minnesota. Because moose and deer forage on similar vegetation, there is concern that restored habitat could lead to increased contact between the two species. We used activity data from GPS radiocollared deer (n = 53) to examine movement patterns and habitat use across multiple scales. Deer in interior northeast Minnesota displayed two migratory strategies: no migration (65%) and migration (35%). Migratory deer moved 7.7 km (range: 1.0-15.6 km) and did not leave moose range. There was no difference in migration distances between spring and fall (p = 0.77), as all deer returned to the previous year’s summer and winter home ranges. Winter home ranges during the more severe winter of 2014 (1.05 km2 ± 0.15) were smaller than summer home ranges (1.65 km2 ± 0.36) and 2015 winter home ranges (1.75 km2 ± 0.20), though differences between seasons and years were not statistically significant (p = 0.56). Use of conifer and mixed forests was higher during winter, while use of deciduous forest was predominant in summer. Woody wetlands were avoided at all times of year. Additionally, a concurrent project assessing the effectiveness of moose habitat restoration suggests overlapping occurrence of moose and deer ranging from 15-40% in areas believed to be attractive to moose because of ample forage availability. Thus, deer in interior northeast Minnesota may pose a risk to moose throughout the year in terms of resource competition and disease transmission regardless of migratory strategy.

AUTHORS: Eric Anstedt*, Minnesota State University; John D. Krenz, Minnesota State University; Shannon J. Fisher, Minnesota State University; Marrett Grund, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

ABSTRACT: Accuracy and efficiency in estimating animal density is important for wildlife managers as they set harvest levels and manage populations. A habitat suitability index model was created for white-tailed deer in southwest Minnesota (an intensive agricultural landscape) to identify roadways (for spotlight surveys) that have varying qualities of deer habitat near the road. We conducted surveys during evenings in March and April 2015 to detect an effect of HSI score on survey efficiency (deer observed per unit effort). Preliminary results suggest a positive correlation between these two variables. Field data will be collected again in 2016. This study seeks to prescribe a way to stratify the landscape in intensively farmed areas to improve the efficiency of collecting data for density estimation.

AUTHORS: Brittany Peterson*, UW-Madison; Dan Storm, WI Dept of Natural Resources; Tim Van Deelen, UW-Madison

ABSTRACT: Dispersal facilitates and influences many ecological processes, such as disease spread, range expansion, population dynamics, and gene flow. For intensively managed wildlife populations, like Wisconsin’s white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus, understanding dispersal behavior is important for effective management. Our research occurred during 2011-2014 on 2 study areas representing the northern (forested) and eastcentral (farmland) regions of Wisconsin. We selected these areas because of contrasting ecological contexts: highly fragmented private land with milder winters versus heavily forested public land with more severe winters. Our goal was to better understand factors that influence variation in dispersal behavior and how they relate to deer management. We evaluated weekly locations from radio-collared yearling males to assess dispersal. Preliminary dispersal rates for the farmland study area (n=176) consistently fell around 55%; however, dispersal rates in the northern site (n=137) revealed high annual variation (28-60%). Influence of individual quality, landscape context, and winter severity on dispersal probability, distance, and direction is underway. We will also quantify the statistical distribution of dispersal distance and direction. Better information regarding the factors shaping variation in dispersal rates, distances, and direction would improve metapopulation maintenance and enable biologists and property managers to make informed decisions about management goals.